mikeszekely

Is there even a difference between the Hasbro and Takara versions? I was under the impression this was a joint release, not one of those cases where Takara makes a toy and months or years later Prowl or a Seeker turn up at US TRUs. I passed on Bee, partly because I'm not into the Bayverse designs and partly because I don't think he's worth $99, but I'm debating whether or not to get Prime.

Well, I hinted yesterday that we weren't done with bugs yet. And here's the thing... I kind of talked a bit about some features and design notes on the BadCube bugs in relation to their FansToys counterparts, almost entirely based on what I'd seen but not experienced. And if I'm being totally honest, my sometimes contrarian nature means that the borderline religious devotion FansToys seems to evoke in some circles makes me inclined to judge them a little harsher and give their competition a bit of a break. In the interest of giving you guy a more fair read on the BadCube vs. FansToys thing, I broke down and bought my first (and to date, only) FT figure. This is Grenadier, their version of Bombshell. Note that I got this copy second-hand, so the Decepticon symbols were already there (indeed, I spent an hour removing the rest of the Reprolabels), and I'm starting with him as I received him although I think he usually ships the other way around. So my initial thought is, from the front, I think I prefer FT's aesthetic. The proportions are a little better, and he's got the dark paint inside his mouth grill that I wished BC had. The paint on his chest is a gorgeous metallic purple, which I love. Looking a little deeper, though, and I'm starting to see some problems. His head antenna is way too small for my tastes. He's got little faux wheel bumps on his forearms, but not the wrist guns. Similarly, there are little circular protrusions on his shoulders, but they're entirely for show. And, personal preference, I like the little touches of red and purple on BC's legs. FT went with a little purple on the edges, and that's it. Also, the unpainted gray knees really stand out against the silver paint on his thighs. I don't often make a point of showing figures from behind, but I think it's worth doing here. Here's the big aesthetic difference between FT and BC... BC cleverly engineered Hypno's bug legs so they're very tucked away and mostly showing up as accurate details, and BC smartly made Hypno's proboscis into his gun. FT busied themselves making a figure that looks just fine from the front, but does so by having a ton of leg and proboscis kibble hanging of Grenadier's back. It's true that a lot of collector's buy figures to display and never really see the back, but I still feel like this is really sloppy. Grenadier does come with several accessories. We get not one but three Energon cubes, an alternate, cartoon-style solid chest piece, six alternate bug legs, and a chromed weapon that's maybe slightly more G1-accurate than the one that came with Hypno, but doesn't have to do double-duty as a bug nose. Grenadier's head is, I think, on a ball joint. It rotates fine, but tilt in any direction is fairly limited. His shoulders can rotate and move laterally a shade over 90 degrees. He's got a bicep swivels, and although his elbows are single-jointed for 90 degrees you can make use of a transformation joint to fake a full curl, if you want. On my copy, his elbows are a tad loose. His wrists can rotate, and he's got MP-carbot-style hands with a fixed thumb and fingers molded as one solid piece hinged at the base knuckles. His waist can swivel, but it's insanely tight. His hips are friction universals that can go a little over 90 degrees forward, that can go about 90 degrees backward (but the proboscis on his back gets in the way), and 90 degrees laterally. He has thigh swivels just below the hip joint. He's got double-jointed knees that get a little over 90 degrees. His feet can bend down, although the bug legs on his calves bump into his heels, or you can bend his toe down, but neither bend up. For transformation reasons his feet can also rotate inward, but not outward. Lastly, he does have a dedicated hinge for inward ankle tilts of about 45 degrees. All-in-all, some joints have better range on the FT version, some have better range on the BC version, FT only uses friction while BC has some ratchets, but for the most part they're both similar, both good in terms of articulation. Grenadier holds his gun fine. It's takes a little more effort to get in than Hypno's, and isn't as secure, but it's perfectly adequate and better than some of the actual MPs at staying in his hand. Grenadier's bug mode is good. I think it makes a bit too much of an effort to hide the robot arms, something neither the G1 toy nor cartoon did, and had they not done so they could have tried to integrate the bug legs into said arm like BC did and maybehe wouldn't be so messy in robot mode (or have the visible robot hands from the back/underside views). And that bit of purple paint on the rear was black in both the cartoon and the toy... if FT wanted the break up the black, I wish they'd have take a cue from BC and gone for the red or blue details that came from the G1 stickers. Grenadier feels tighter and more secure in bug mode than Hypno does, though, and doesn't have the same thickness issue. His robot legs are locked in place a little tighter, there's no fold out purple panels to cover the robot chest (so no gray-to-purple color change gimmick like the Value Pack Hypno), and the probosics isn't on a ball joint at the base. That means he looses some of the range Hypno has, but the base is locked firmly into place and the two hinges FT placed along the length seem prefectly adequate for articulating it. FT did include storage for his robot gun, but rather than doing the smart thing and making it part of the proboscis like BadCube did it clips between his bot legs and sticks out the back like he's giving birth to himself (maybe that's how the Insecticons made clones of themselves?). Now, this view is with the first set of legs, which are meant to be G1-style. And I think they are evocative of the G1 toy/cartoon, despite not being attached to his robot arms. But let's check out the other legs (I'm not swapping the chests; I like my translucent amber an you can probably guess what he'd look like with solid yellow). The other set are more insectoid. Each leg has at least one more hinge than the G1-style, plus the front and rear legs have an additional swivel. The joints are strong enough to lift Grenadier off the ground (despite the absurd amount of diecast in him). I greately prefer these legs. They're not G1-accurate, and in the cartoon the Insecticons just kind of flew around, but I can totally imagine Grenadier scuttling around on these legs. Switching to the insectoid legs doesn't really help clean up his robot mode, though. There is one thing, one difference between Grenadier and Hypno, that pictures don't show. Grenadier has an insane amount of diecast in him. I wish I had a kitchen or postal scale for you guys to give you some concrete numbers, but Grenadier probably weights more than all three of BadCube's bugs combined. I'm actually holding an Xbox One controller with the batteries installed in one hand and Grenadier in the other and I feel like they're pretty close. Is this how FT brainwashes people? I mean, on the one hand, Grenadier certainly has a lot of lovely paint, and the heft of him does take you back to when you were a kid in the '80s playing with toys that had a lot more diecast than modern toys do. But let's be realistic, how much diecast does a toy a head taller than MP Bumblebee need? Does paint and diecast cause people to overlook things like questionable joint tolerances (like I've got with Grenadier's elbows and waist), or other QC issues (Scoria's hips, Tesla's elbow, Forager's wing clasps, etc)? Because a lot of people hold them in such high regard, like they're the best 3P out there and there's a gulf between them and the 2nd place, and if FT announces a figure people will declare that it'll be the best one based on nothing but a sihlouette and a reputation that, frankly, I'm not sure they actually deserve. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that Grenadier or any other FT figure is bad; they're not! FT makes good figures. What I am saying, though, is that other 3P's do too. Sometimes better... there's a reason I bought Gundog instead of Willis, and in the near future we're going to talk about some other cases where FT made a figure and I went/will go with a different company. In the case of the Bombshell wars, though... I think I do actually like Grenadier better than Hypno. Don't get me wrong, I still think Hypno's a very good choice, and I definitely think BadCube had the much smarter engineering. I just think FanToys' made a better-looking robot (at least from the front), and a tighter, better-looking bug. Neither is perfect, and there's definitely enough room for improvement that MMC's could turn out to be the best... if it's ever released. But, more importantly, FansToys' bugs are over $80 each at retail, with second-hand prices climbing over $100 (with Forager, their Kickback, nowhere to be had at all). I do personally like Grenadier better, and I feel comfortable recommending him as a stand-alone figure, but I definitely don't think he (and the two I didn't buy) are worth the extra cost and hassle. If you want a complete set of Insecticons, BadCube is a much better value right now. Or, you could wait and see how MMC's shake out.

Wrapping up BadCube's bugs with Hypno, their version of my personal favorite Insecticon, Bombshell. Aside from the now-obvious chrome (on his gun and his little head thing) and the translucent chest, one distinction I'm going to point out right away is that this Collector's Edition of Hyptno has a toy-style purple chest. Like I said, I had the toys as a kid and purple is what I'm used to. Anyone looking for a G1 Sunbow gray chest should get the Value Pack. Beyond that, what's to say that i didn't really cover with the other two? He's got the wrist guns and enough of the bug legs protruding from his shoudlers to be accurate to the cartoon. And, like the cartoon, he's got the molded lines on the front of his shoulders meant to evoke the middle bug legs. He goes for the silver helmet and red eyes of the cartoon, which is fine, but I think I'd have liked some black in the slots on the mouth plate. His thighs have the shape of the cartoon, complete with the circle knobs on his knees, and his shins have the little triangular bumps. Although he sports a toy-style translucent chest BadCube painted the squares silver to match the cartoon. The extra detail on his crotch and the tiny splashes of red and purple paint on his shins seems to be an invention of BC, but a welcome one that keeps him visually interesting. Accessory-wise, he comes with a yet another Energon Cube and his gun, which lack some of the details of the cartoon and the toy. However, I think it's probably close enough, and there's a reason for it. No extra faces for him, though. As with the others, you can fold the gun up and place it on his back, which is very neat and tidy. Hypno's head is on a ball joint that can look up about 45 degrees, down a hair, rotate, and tilt sideways a little. His shoulders rotate with the entire yellow bug eye and can soft ratchet out the side over 90 degrees. Just be sure when you're manipulating his shoulders that you leave a finger on the bug leg, since that's actually the ratcheted part, and lowering his shoulders without holding the bug leg in place will cause the shoulder to move without it. He has a bicep swivel, and double-jointed elbows (friction on top, soft ratchet on the bottom) that doesn't quite have the same range as Claymore and Kickbutt but still gets you better than 90 degrees. His wrists swivel, and he's got the same MP-carbot hands as the other two. His waist is ball-jointed, and he can do some sideways and backward lean but the hinge for his chest door prevents him from getting an ab crunch. Ratcheted universal hips can go 90 degrees forward, backward, or laterally, and like the others his thigh swivels around the joint which limits the range, but still provides enough of a natural range. Ratcheted knees get a little shy of 90 degrees. His ankles have a miniscule up/down tilt, and his toes can bend upward. He's got a fantastic inward tilt that can easily exceed 90 degrees. And of course he can hold his gun using the same style of connection as the others, which is very snug and secure. Insect mode has some red and blue painted details that evoke the G1 stickers, and a lot of the molded details I also like how the wrist gun and bug legs folded into his shoulders extend to make his front and rear bug legs, but the middle legs fold out from his back and reach under his robot arms in a way that still gives him a very G1 leg arrangement. There's a lot of clever engineering going on, actually. Panels fold out of his legs and wrap over his chest. These panels are purple no matter which version of Hypno you get, which means the gray-chested Value Pack version still makes a purple bug, just like the cartoon. Also, the black part of his proboscis is hidden in his chest in robot mode, but the chrome part is actually his gun. If I have one complaint, it's the same one I've been making and that's that the bug mode seems a little too thick. The smaller faux proboscis hides inside his chest in bug mode, and opening the chest door exposes it like an extra hidden gun. The proboscis is ball jointed where the black connects to his body, giving him a bit of wiggle room, and hinged where the gun handle mates with the black part ot bend upward. As with the other Evil Bug Corp members, the bug legs have a few joints but they're really more for transformation, as you really only have a few options for keeping them flat on the ground. That being said, the joints are strong enough that they do keep his body off of the ground. Maybe it's because Bombshell is my favorite, but Hypno feels like the best of BadCube's Insecticons. I think that reinforces what I said yetserday... Kickbutt is the most flawed, but if you can live with Kickbutt's flaws then Mercenary and Hypno are good enough and both the Value Pack and Collector's Edition versions are cheap enough that BadCube's Evil Bug Corp is worth picking up if you need quality Insecticons with good articulation that are somewhere between a Deluxe/MP Bumblebee and a Voyager/MP carbot in size. But is Hypno the best 3P Bombshell? Tune in tomorrow...

Well, like I think I mentioned, $140 at BBTS for all three of the the toy-style Collector's Edition. Considering that they originally went for $80 each, and the FansToys ones would run you a little more (assuming you could actually find them all), I can forgive a chunky Kickbutt. I mean, at that price, it's like buying BC's Bombshell and Shrapnel and getting Kickbutt for free. Of course, if you're on the fence you could always wait until I review their Bombshell tomorrow... Anyway, I think the fly in the ointment could be MMC's. What I've seen of them looks pretty good, and they're not too expensive, but they've been delayed so many times. And now that I have Insecticons, it's not like I need them. I may or may not pick them up, depending on how much other stuff I want is out at the time.

I'm glad you enjoyed it, because I'm definitely doing the rest of the Evil Bug Corps. Starting right now, in fact. This is Kickbutt, BadCube's excellently-named version of Kickback. Once again, I went with the Collector's edition to get the toy-style translucent chest and chromed wings. Compared to Claymore, though, there's a lot less difference between the Collector's Edition and the Value Pack, since there's no other color changes and both versions have silver-painted guns. And, once again, we have a figure that sticks close to both the original toy and the cartoon, with a lot of molded lines in the chest and legs and some painted detail that mimics the G1 version's molding and stickers. The most obvious difference from the toy, aside from a cartoon-style face, are the cartoon's more normal forearms. It'll also be apparent from some angles that he's a little tubby, but not so much that it really bothers me in this mode. His accessories are basically the same as Claymore's; a sort of smirking face to leave in the box because a smirk doesn't really say "Kickback," an Energon cube, and a fairly G1-ish gun, complete with the tommy gun drum. As with Claymore, you can fold it up and clip it to his very clean back. Kickbutt's head is on a hinged swivel that can look up nearly 90 degrees and rotate. His wings and antenna can both rotate as well. His shoulers are on ball joints that can rotate and bend 90 degrees laterally. He's got bicep swivels, double-jointed elbows that can curl all the way up, wrist swivels, and carbot hands. Like Claymore, his waist is a ball joint providing rotation, good lean back, tons of side stretching, and a good ab crunch. His hips are ratcheted universals that can go forward or backward 90 degrees, or laterally on soft ratchets just a hair shy of 90. His thighs rotate around the hip joints, and again that prevents them from having 360 degrees of swivel but a range that feels natural. His knees bend 90 degrees on soft ratchets. His heel is fixed in robot mode, as is the black part of his leg that he's basically standing on, but his purple front part of his feet can move up and down at the gray part inside the leg, and the purple part itself is pinned and can point downward. Additionally, the purple part can rotate, providing a faux ankle tilt with a crazy 360 degree range. Needless to say, I have no real complaints about his articulation. In fact, his knees are probably the most clever bit of engineering on the toy. See, just like the G1 version the rear grasshopper legs fold up into the backs of his legs. BadCube smartly used clips to lock the bug feet into Kickbutt's thighs, and the bulk of Kickbutt's knee is actually his grasshopper ankle. As far as holding his gun, it works just like Claymore or Brawny, and he holds it nice and secure. So the bug mode... it does a lot right, yeah? The wings, the head, the bug legs that aren't made from his arms like the G1 version, but still have a look that calls back to the G1 toy. He's got a nice mask that comes out to cover up his face. Springs push the rear legs out just a bit, but it's enough that they don't fold back into the robot legs unless you're trying to fold them back up into the robot legs, which is again smart. But, remember how I said Mercenary looked a little thick? And that Kickbutt's bot mode was chubby. Kickbutt's grasshopper mode is even worse, and what it really boils down to is that his robot arms are hiding in there. And not even so much that, since I think that's how FansToys does it with Forager, too, but the way they did it, basically curling the arms up and stuffing them in there, expanding the torso to make room instead of doing simple things like making the arms just a little thinner, allowing the hands to fold into the forearms, and/or adding a transformation joint closer to the shoulder that would have allowed the arms to fit in straighter. Aesthetic gripes aisde, the rear legs use Kickbutt's hip joints where they're attached the body, plus a knee at the top of the purple, a ratcheted bug ankle, and a hinged but toe. The front legs can swivel where they're connected to the gray part, and there's hinges at the gray part and and where the purple connects to the gray. His antenna and wings can still rotate. A fold out part hangs out over the rear just enough for his gun to clip into. Due to his thickness, especially in robot mode, I feel like he's the weakest of BadCube's Insecticons and one case where I do feel like FansToys' version, Forager, looks better. As I understand it, though, Forager has some issues with the way the wings work that's prone to breaking, among other more minor complaints I'd have with it. And that's assuming you could even find a copy, as retail outlets have long since sold through their inventory and he's the only FT bug I'm not seeing on eBay. Considering the much lower cost and effort required to get BadCube's bugs you're still probably better off. I don't regret buying him, and I think if you're buying him in a pack he's not so bad that he's dragging the other two down. You know your own tastes, and if you think you can live with a grasshopper mode that's almost twice as thick as it should be, then go for it. It's a great value. That said, I'm curious to see how MMC's shakes out.

Somehow, inevitably, more MP-ish figures are sneaking into my collection. And I realized that the Autobots are kind of filling out nicely, but aside from Despotron and some definitely CHUG iGear Seekers my Decepticons were basically all tied up in combiners. I've set out to rectify that, and tonight we're starting with Badcube's Claymore, their take on an MP Shrapnel. Even though I watched the cartoon (and the '86 movie) as much as the next kid, the Insecticons were some of the few Season 1 toys I actually had. So let me get this out of the way; I sprang extra and got the "Collector's Edition," which sports the toy-accurate translucent chest, chrome mandibles, and (as you'll see in a bit) yellow bug legs. There is also some diecast in the figure, but I think just in the feet. Badcube also sold these guys in a value pack with all three. The value pack version ditches the diecast, swaps the chrome for silver paint, looses the translucent chest for a more cartoon solid yellow, and swaps the yellow legs for silver. As far as I know, those are the only differences. So yeah, that's Shrapnel all right. He's maybe got a few details that the simplified 'toon model doesn't, like the blue marks on his chest where stickers would go on the G1 toy, if I'd applied them, and the raised lines on his thighs... lines that are also toy-accurate. His head strikes me as a little big, and the panels on the sides of his lower legs are a little exaggerated, but on the whole he's looking very good. Definitely more of an upgrade for me than the Generations Legends-class figure. I think, given their reputation, the elephant in the room would be FansToys' Mercenary, but for Shrapnels at least I'm not really seeing anything that one or the other toy does obviously better, at least from this angle. If you don't have either the G1 or Generations figures, Claymore is basically a head taller than MP Bumblebee, or a head shorter than MP Prowl. That'd make him taller than your average Deluxe, and shorter than your average Voyager. He doesn't come with a ton of accessories, which is fine... it's not like the Insecticons used a ton of gear in the cartoon. We've got a gun modeled after the cartoon version (the value pack version is even cartoon purple), a small Energon cube, and a replacement face with a sort of smirk on it. Back in the box, face. I don't really think of Shrapnel as a smirking character. The gun can peg onto Claymore's back when he's not using it. It's a nice time to point out that his back side cleans up pretty well. This is definitely an area that BC wins over FT. From what I've seen, regardless of which legs you use on Mercenary you end up with a tangled ball of legs back there. Mercenary's just go the cartoon-accurate wrist guns, and the cartoon-accruate legs folded up neatly across the sides of his back. Moving right along... Claymore's head is on a ball joint, and it's pretty tight. He can't look down or tilt his head (with the force I'm comfortable applying), but he can look up about 45 degrees and rotate his head. His shoulders are on ball joints so they can rotate and move about 90 degrees laterally. Double-jointed elbows allow him to curl his arms all the way up. He does have a wrist swivel and MP carbot-style hands with the fingers molded as one piece pinned at the base knuckle. His waist is actually a ball joint, too, so he can lean backwards or sidewise a tad. Engaging a transformation bit just a hair will also give him an ab crunch. His hips universal joints. They can go 90 degrees forward or backward on ratchets. 90 degrees laterally, too, on what feel like the softest ratchets in the world. His knees are similarly soft-ratcheted, and although they're double-jointed for transformation you can only get 90 degrees of bend due to the shape of his calves. His thighs swivel around his hips, and although he doesn't have 360 degrees of swivel I feel like he's got a nice, natural range. His feet have a ratcheted joint where they're connected to the leg that can tilt his foot downward, a hinge closer to his foot that can tilt up and down, and a dedicated hinge for up to 90 degrees of inward ankle tilt. All-in-all, good articulation, but I'd have prefered fewer ball joints. He holds his gun just fine, with a handle that's basically identical to to the squarish one used by Brawny that fits into slots on his hands. Bug mode on this guy is pretty gorgeous. The legs emulate the cartoon and the toy pretty faithfully, sans the toy's wheels. Little details like the molded vents on his rear, the little triangle fins on his rear, and the nipple bumps are all present. At a glance, he really looks like a bigger version of the G1 toy, but when you look at him long enough you do start to notice that he's a tad too thick, and the panels on the sides of his legs are now protruding awkwardly past his robot feet. His shoulders could have done without those cuts in the side, too. There's not a ton of bug articulation in the legs. Basically, the front of his yellow feet can bend up and down a little, and the rear purple feet can as well, but practically you need them kind of flat. The mandibles are on ball joints, so they can open and close without moving his face cover, from a range that puts more than 180 degrees between the tips at their widest to close enough that the inner "teeth" almost touch at the narrowest, as well as giving them a little up/down play or a little rotation. His cockpit does open, although the way his torso collapses doesn't really leave you with room to put anything in there. His gun tucks away neatly underneath... and while we're down there, check out that swank silver paint. It's nice to see little painted detail that Badcube totally could have gotten away without painting. Aside from the aesthetic nitpicks I don't have much bad to say about Claymore (and it's not like I don't have aesthetic complaints about Mercenary). Nitpicks aside, he looks the part in both modes, and he's got plenty of articulation. The only other complaint I really have is that his the flap to open his forearm for transformation just uses friction to stay closed instead of tabbing in solildy, but that friction is adequate. I'm not going to say that he's better or worse than Mercenary without being able to properly review Mercenary, but I will say that I think Claymore is an equally valid choice. If you happen to be in the US, he's also a fantastically cheap choice, with BBTS currently offering the 3-pack for $120 or the complete set of Collector's Edition versions for $140. At that price, I feel comfortable recommending him either as an MP Shrapnel, or as an additional troop-building clone even if you already have Mercenary.

As I recall it, we were discussing Drift stuck on pegs, ie shelfwarming, because he was a horrible cliche of a Mary Sue (at the time). Another board member who wasn't familiar with the comics had no idea who we were talking about, and he was like "Who? Peg?" And the rest of us kind of just latched onto that. I don't think it was meant to be pejorative, short pointing out that a toy that a toy of a new, one-dimensional, comics-only character wasn't selling. Peg has improved since then, becoming sort of a hippy spiritualist who is often paired with a cantankerous atheist Ratchet. But now that's the version I'd want in my collection, not the Shane McCarthy weeabo race car.

Bonus internet points for you for remembering the whole Peg thing!

That Drift looks pretty cool, and I love that sketch of Star Saber, but that Tarn-gorilla isn't doing it for me. Well, that and the whole not transforming thing. That's kind of a deal breaker.

I have a Razer Kraken... been so long I can't recall the specific model. It's not one of the fancy ones, but it's an analog one, with separate jacks for the audio and the mic for PC. It came with an adapter to plug the jacks into and have a single Jack for both, so I can also use it for those rare instances of console gaming.

So, as much as I've sworn off official CHUGs, Power of the Primes is shaping up to be kind of interesting... Deluxe Jazz, who looks to be Combiner Wars compatible, the Terrorcons (4 Deluxe and 1 Voyager), the Dinobots (4 Deluxe and 1 Voyager), Titan-class Predaking (5 Voyagers) and "Prime Masters" that appear to be Titan Master heads Power Masters named after some of the 13 Primes with Pretender shells. Then there's the Leader Class. Just like the Titans Returns Leaders all had base modes, the Power of the Primes Leaders look like they're going to have a gimmick of smaller robots that integrate into larger ones. Looks like there's going to be another Power Master Optimus Prime (already), this one with an actual Ginrai to Super Ginrai transformation, a Rodimus Prime with a smaller Hot Rod, and a smaller Optimus Primal with a larger Optimal Optimus.

I could probably take a night off after writing a novella about TFM's Motormaster, but I have another review. I've actually has this figure for awhile, but I've been waiting to get my hands on an MP Hot Rod for pictures... this is MMC's Calidus, their take on IDW Rodimus. It's amazing how similar yet different these guys are. Sure, they both have light gray faces, dark gray shins, some orange on the thighs, some yellow on teh chest and yellow wings, and they're both... well, I guess MP Hot Rod is more pinky purple than red. Both have pipes on the forearms, and tall shoulders. But Calidus is so... different. As different as he is, he's actually quite accurate to Alex Milne's sketches, which should make More Than Meets The Eye/The Lost Light fans pretty happy. Really, Calidus is lacking a bit of detail and has slighty different proportions, both necessitated by the realities of making the design an actual toy that transforms. Of course, The Lost Light fans might be a bit disappointed that he's got the More Than Meets The Eye red/orange/yellow colors and not his current "spectralist" blue/purple colors (MMC is doing a TFCon repaint, though). Speaking of colors, I'm not sure how well it shows up in photos (or even in person), but I feel like pointing out that he's not a massive slab of red. If you look carefully, his hips are a different color than his inner thighs, which are a different color from his pelvis, and his abs have two different shades of red as well. Size-wise, he's about the same size as MP Hot Rod. While I guess that means MP Hot Rod scales with MP Optimus, I don't think that makes Calidus scale with stuff like GT's Op Ex, because I think IDW Rodimus is supposed to be bigger. Then again, IDW Rodimus being the same size as G1 Hot Rod and IDW Optimus being the same size as G1 Optimus kind of works in my head, so your mileage may vary. Calidus doesn't come with a ton of accessories. Then again, considering I can't actually recall him carrying a weapon in the comics, I guess he doesn't need much. We've got an alternate face that replaces the stock stoic expression with an ever so subtle smirk. We've got a gun, vaguely recalling the G1 toy's, cast from a single piece of dark gray plastic, and a bow which is very much an homage to Animated Rodimus. Calidus' head is on a ball joint with pretty good upwards and sideways tilt, but due to the shape of his chin and the relative lack of a neck he's not going to be looking down any time soon. His shoulders are kind of ineresting. They can rotate, but there's a double hinge in there. This allows Calidus to swing his arm out and down, which gives him a little extra clearance so that he can get nearly 90 degrees of lateral movement and get enough clearance for his large shoulders to rotate past his wings. He has a bicep swivel that's a little hindered by the shape of his shoulder armor, but also a forearm swivel. His elbows are double-jointed so he can touch his shoulders. His wrists swivel. His thumbs and palms are molded into a 5mm port, but his fingers are also on a pin hinge at the base so his hand can open and close, and his pointer finger is a separate piece from his other three fingers. His waist swivels. His hips are on a friction universal and get just a little under 90 degrees forward and backward. In what is easily my biggest problem with this figure, his hips are ratcheted for lateral movement, again falling just shy of 90 degrees. Like oh-so-many figures that use ratchets for this joint he goes from stock straight to what I'd consider the widest A-stance that still looks natural. He could have used a click or two in between to get more relaxed, natural poses, and it's frustrating because it's the only ratcheting joints on him, and in the one spot a figure this size absolutely doesn't need them. Anyway... he has thigh swivels in just the right spot so that they they don't mess up the sculpt, a single-jointed knee that gets a little over 90 degrees of bend, and his feet have a little up/down tilt and dedicated hinge for inward/outward tilt. Issue two, though, is that the sculpt of the legs around his feet come down pretty low and hinder his ankle tilts. In fact, you get just enough tilt that his feet can stay flat at that one-click-out A-stance you're practically forced into, and that's it. His gun slides into his hand just fine. Alternatively, you can open his hand, then work the bow in. Like I said, it's a nice Animated homage, but since it's not something he uses in teh comics it's not really for me. The bow does have two hinges that let you angle the ends. That can be useful for giving the bow a drawn look. The bow can also peg onto his back, and the ends can bend around his torso. I think that would almost look like a natural way to carry a bow, if it weren't for the two large protruding spikes. If you prefer, you could also store the gun in that peg hole. Another company, SXS, is doing this version of Rodimus, and the debate over whether their version or Calidus looks better in bot mode goes on for many pages in the usual Transformers forums. What people aren't debating, though, is that MMC really nailed the alt mode. Now, I was used to Rodimus turning into a space car from G1, and previously in IDW a Dodge Viper during the -ations and a Pagani Zonda when Don Figeuroa was drawing the same comics that gave us the design for Op Ex and TFM's Stunticons, so the first time I saw Milne's design for his alt mode I thought it looked a little tankish, like modern Batmobiles. I think the design's really grown on me, though, to the point where I almost prefer Calidus in alt mode. Just be mindful of how you transform him. The instructions are almost entirely useless, to the point where following them will get you stuck with an alt mode that doesn't line up right. Basically, you want to transform the upper body, then the lower body, so everything is pegged into its proper place before you collase the sliding spine. If you do it right, you should be able to press the pipes on his torso into the pipes on his legs so there's no gap. Still about the same size as MP Hot Rod. Still don't know if he should be bigger. Still works for me, though. As far as weapon storage goes, the same peg hole on his back for weapon storage allows you to mount his gun. The bow uses a pair of peg holes to firmly attach to the underside of the front. The protruding spikes seem more useful in this mode, and the bow itself wraps around the front like a bumper. As I said before, it's not something that he uses in the comics, and technically makes his alt mode less comic-accurate, so my bow is going right back in the box. Along with the non-smirking face. So here we are, and I don't know, guys. I've been a big fan of the IDW comics, and my favorite ones have been the ones where this design came from. There's a part of me that would like the entire Lost Light crew done in a comic-accurate style, and I love MMC's Decepticon Justice Division characters from the same book. That being said... I'm kind of disappointed with Calidus. I think he looks pretty accurate to the source in both modes, I think the accessories are good enough for a character who doesn't really have any accessories in the comics, and I feel like I should totally love him, but I think the hips are that much of a let down that I might tell you to wait and see what SXS comes up with.

Well, I said I was going to do it, so here it is... this is Powertrain, TFM's version of Don Figueroa's IDW Motormaster. As with the other Stunticons, TFM has done a pretty good job at bringing Figueroa's design to life. Most of the details, from the boxy missile launchers, the silver on his shoulders, the way his cab folds to form not just his feet but aslo his shins and thighs, and even little details like the dark cylinder on his pelvis (and the angle of the slot on it) are present. He's missing the wrist guns shown the the cover of The Transformers #5, but they weren't present on Motormaster's arms when he appeared in issue #4, so I won't hold that against him. There are a few departures that make him less accurate than the other three TFM have released, though. For starters, there's his head, which in addition to having some different details from the nose down eschews the comic's silver face for a G1 lavendar. The other big difference is his chest. Figueroa's design was kind of like a robot chest that blended with his abs with a border around the torso, all in silver. Out of necessity due to his transformation, Powertrain's chest is segmented from his abs, and TFM decided to use some black with a G1 cartoon purple square. Really, I'm not complaining, though... Motormaster appears with this design for all of two panels and one cover as himself with this design. As much as I like IDW's comics, my biggest impression of Motormaster was the G1 cartoon, so if anything I'd have liked to see even more black on his torso. One of the reasons Motormaster made such an impression on me was because his alt mode was a tractor trailer truck, which to my six year old self made him an evil analog to Optimus Prime long before Scourge/Black Convoy/Nemesis Prime became a thing in Transformers fiction or an excuse to sell me a black Optimus repaint. And just as TFM was scaling the Stunticon cars with the MP cars, TFM opted to make Motormaster scale with MP-10. That said, the Figueroa style looks a little odd with MP-10, so if your collection is strictly G1 MPs Powertrain might not do it for you. He looks pretty great with GT's Op Ex, though. Furthering the notion that Motormaster was doing the evil Optimus before Nemesis Prime made it cool, pulling Powertrain's chest flap down reveals some molded and painted detail that could be a spark chamber, but does rather evoke a Matrix. I have to give big kudos to TFM for including this detail, because it's not from the comics, and it's not like they had two. There's just a point where you fold down part of the front of the trailer to reveal his head, then another part of the trailer folds up over the first part. It does sort of look like his robot chest is open mid-transformation, so putting and painting some molded detail is a really nice touch. While TFM clearly wants you to compare Powertrain with MP-10 or Op Ex, I feel like I'd be remiss if I didn't compare him to other Motormasters, especially Fansproject's Diesel. I'd noted when I reviewed GT's Constructicons that they reminded me of Maketoy's Jizai-designed Green Giant, in a lot of ways TFM's Stunticons remind me of the Jizai-designed M3. For robot mode, the comparison is a little unfair, though, as we're talking about a years-old Voyager-sized toy meant for CHUGs with a brand new toy meant to be more IDW MP. I will say, though, that it's interesting how Powertrain looks more Motormaster-ish, with feet that ar estill made from the cab and the cab oriented the correct way (I feel like the cab feet and the box head are basically Motormaster's signature traits). I also really like how there's no obvious combiner connections showing, unlike the pegs on Diesel's shoudlers (you could fold them down, but you lose his bicep rotation). He's really a cleaner figure overall (I popped two kibble panels off the balljoints of Diesel's hips, after all). And he manages to look better and cleaner while have a much easier transformation and without having the big gap in his back that Diesel does. The Combiner Wars Motormaster just looks like trash. Seriously, if you'd put any other head on him people would be like "who's that?" Anyway, it's about time I got to the accessories, yeah? Much like Diesel, Powertrain doesn't actually transform from the whole trailer. The back half is reserved for combined mode parts, which is fine by me. While Fansproject's idea of "use everything in every mode" meant that Diesel had to wear a bunch of combiner bits as guns and missile launchers on his shoulders and back, the combiner bits for a sort of base mode. That's kind of a nice homage to the fact that the G1 toy had a base mode, I think. It's got storage for his sword in the middle, and a pair of turrets. The turrets do rotate, and they have fold out handles, but they really sit to low for even the Stunticon cars let alone Powertrain himself, and the whole thing is tabbed together fairly loosely. There's a gun for Powertrain, which doesn't see to store anywhere on the base. I find that oddly disappointing. There the trailer wheels, which I guess could be sort of a rolling drone, although it does have another use in bot mode. Finally, there's an optional face and a pair of batteries that we'll talk about when we do combined mode. So Powertrain's head is on a hinged swivel, and he can look up about 45 degrees and down a little bit as well. His shoulder can rotate and move about 90 degrees laterally, but a transformation joint where the arm connects to the torso will get you well beyond 90 degrees. While the missile launchers on his shoulders are actually attached via armatures with many hinges, while they're collapsed into robot mode they have a fairly small range of movement, from about level to 45 degrees up. His biceps swivel. A single-jointed, ratcheted elbow gets one click past 90 degrees. His wrists swivel. His thumbs are on ball joints, while his other four fingers are on a pin hinge at the base knuckle. His index finger can move independently while the other three are one molded piece, but there are no additional knuckles. His waist can swivel, but swiveling past a certain point will cause the combined-mode crotch panel to pop off his back. His hips are ratcheted; he can basically get 90 degrees forward, backward, or laterally. They seem a little on the weak side, though, considering that they'll also be the combined-mode hips. The front/back ratchets are pretty soft, and while the lateral movement is stronger it's nowhere near as tight as GT's Long Haul. His thighs can swivel. His knees are ratcheted. A minor issue here are the wheels on the backs of his thighs. With them in place, you can only get about two clicks, which is less than 45 degrees. If you open the purple flap on his shin, you can get one more click and about 45 degrees. If you swivel the wheels back to the sides of his thighs you can get a full 90 degree bend. One more thing I should mention here is that the front and back of Powertrain's thighs are flaps; unplugging them allows you to move his hips out 90 degrees then bend his thighs back down, giving him wider hips in combined mode. Manipulatiing the ratchets in either hips his or knees seems to pop those flaps loose. Finishing off the articulation, his feet are on a couple of hinges. One hinge allows him to tilt his foot up and down. Another hinge below it gives him a good 90 degrees of inward ankle tilts. Then a rotating peg below that gives him ankle swivels. For the most part, while there are a few hinderances, they can mostly be worked around and I think you can get a lot of dynamic poses out of him. The part of the sword that plugs into the base opens up and curls around to form a hilt, revealing a handle with slots on it that fit into Powertrain's fists. The gun has similar slots, and he holds both accessories fine, for the most part. The swords's pretty heavy, so depending on the pose I found the bicep swivel and shoulder rotation weren't entirely strong enough to support it. As for the gun, the handle is actually on a pin hinge that could have been tighter, as the barrel droops in Powertrain's hand. If you like, the trailer wheels can also fold up and have a handle that can be extended so that he can use it as a shield. It can only be fit into his left hand, though, and he doesn't hold it very well. I'd complain more, but I'm really not a fan of the look. Taking the rear of the trailer apart and transforming it into a base every time you transform Powertrain into a robot seems like kind of a pain. As with Diesel, I'm fairly inclined to just leave the remainder of the trailer in trailer mode when Powertrain's a robot. However, due to how the sword is stored in there, you do have to take it apart to get the sword out, so if you don't want to take the trailer apart he can only use the gun. Speaking of, the gun does store under the trailer, so you do have everything tucked away in truck mode. Speaking of truck mode, you can see here just how much is stored weapons and combiner parts, and how much is actually Powertrain. Again, I think that's fair. It's certainly no worse than Diesel. While there are a few tabs to line up, a big improvement from Diesel is that there are four folding clasps that lock the halves of the trailer solidly together. And the result is a truck that doesn't look at all out of place with eitehr MP-10 or Op Ex. Might look even better with MP-10, if I'd bothered to transform mine correctly. The cab is more evocative of G1 Motormaster than the IDW version, though, with round headlights, second tier of windows on the roof, and the molded lines behind the molded doors. The addition of silver smokestacks and chaning the fuel tanks from purple to silver is nice touch, though. I definitely appreciate that while TFM was crafting a cab of similar size to MP-10's that they didn't just make the cab a black MP-10 with extra windows. That said, I could have done without the vent-thing at the rear of the trailer. It's a detail that G1 Optimus and MP-10 both have, but neither cartoon nor toy G1 Motormaster nor IDW Motormaster had. In fact, a cursory Google search didn't turn up any real-world trailers with such a detail, so I'd have to figure they're pretty uncommon. That makes it stand out as a very Optimus detail they included on Powertrain, and since it doesn't help with the base or combined modes, an uncessary one. While Powertrain's cab is close to MP-10's in dimensions, it is a hair shorter and a little narrower. A more noticeable detail is that the trailer is significantly shorter (and slightly narrower). When Powertrain is by himself it's not really noticeable, but if you put him anywhere near an MP-10 trailer Powertrain starts to look oddly short. I feel like I'm watching Seasame Street with my daughter... "one of these things is not like the other." I know this is a review for Powertrain and I should be talking about him, but seriously, how did Hasbro make a Motormaster toy that looks so little like Motormaster? I digress. The trailer also looks kind of short next to Diesel. Then again, Powertrain's wheels are sitting oddly far back, and there's space between the cab and the trailer (ironically, while more G1 accurate, it's not how Figueroa drew Motormaster in the single panel that had in in truck mode). The lines, seams, slots, and tabs on Powertrain's trailer that looked so bad compared to MP-10 also don't look nearly as bad compared to Diesel. The smartest thing TFM did was decide where to put the division of "this stuff makes the cab" and "this stuff makes the trailer" on Powertrain's body. Basically, from the waist up is trailer and from the waist down is cab. That means that the connection point between cab and trailer is the waist swivel, allowing for the cab to turn about the trailer in a very natural way despite the fact that they can't actually be separated. It's the single biggest improvement over Diesel's alt mode. Rounding out the more MP-ish details, Powertrain has molded doors on the back of his trailer and a nice, painted bumper with painted lights. That looks better on it's own than Diesel, but I'll stress again that everything for all three modes is in that trailer. While Fansproject tried to do that, we were left with a folded-up gun bit that hung awkwardly off the rear. Oh, and just like the other Stunticons, Powertrain has rubber tires and rolls great. So you might have gathered that Powertrain's a pretty impressive figure, and probably the best Motormaster toy ever made (although it won't be long before he's got a lot more competition). He's got a few issues though, and they boil down to tolerances. I've already mentioned some, like the trouble holding up his sword in some poses, or the flaps that come loose on his thighs. It's more than that, though... basically a lot of stuff is either too tight or too loose on him. The turrents don't really stay in place but for gravity in base mode. When separating the trailer into the base/combiner parts, there are two parts (not the very rear, and not the parts with the turrent guns) that I've yet to be able to separate without a tool, and I'm afraid that one day I'm going to break it. To turn the trailer parts into the turrets (or the combined mode forearms), you have to fold over part of the trailer and tab it down, then move the top back on a double hinge. The tab that holds it in place is loose, but the double-hinged part requires an uncomfortable amount of force to move. I haven't tried out a one-armed combined mode, but I'm already hearing reports of enough problems that TFM is saying that they're going to include parts with their not-Dead End to address some shortcomings. Now, I'm not saying these issues are dealbreakers by any means. Like many of GT's other releases, Powertrain is a fun-but-flawed figure. I can't stress enough how fun and intuitive his transformation is, especially compared to Diesel's. I think I'm just a little disappointed by Powertrain's flaws because the previous release, Revolt (not-Dragstrip), was so good. Time will tell how good or bad the combined mode is, but just on the strength of the robot and alt mode I have no problems recommending Powertrain or any of TFM's other Stunticons.

I've heard it blamed on the retailers, and I've heard it blamed on Hasbro. I don't know whose fault it really is, but the distribution of Transformers figures have been pretty awful for years. I'd collected almost every Classics/Universe/Generations release for awhile, but I think it was around the time Hasbro was doing Reveal the Shield that I started missing figures because I couldn't find them and not because I didn't want them. I almost imagine an employee at Hasbro being like, "OK, we'll send the first wave to everybody to get 'em excited, but wave 2 goes only to Targets in the northeast, while wave 3 will be split between Walmarts in the South and Toys R' Us on the West Coast." That's why I keep saying I quit. I especially quit after I went third party... but every now and then I still find myself buying a figure. Like Perceptor... I have the previous Generations release. I actually have the KFC Mugan Scope figure, too. And I swear I'm 3P only anyway these days, but I keep thinking about the new TR figure just because he turns into a microscope like the G1 toy did. I might grab him next time I'm at Target.

Really? I'm not sure about Topspin (I honestly haven't been seriously looking, since I think I quit Generations), but I've seen tons of Kups and Perceptors, and I live in an area where it's not uncommon for stores to skip multiple waves. The Target by me has an endcap set up for the movie, but half the toys on it are Generations.

I kinda like it.

TFM's Motormaster does use part of the trailer for himself, and part of it is basically a big chunk of combiner parts, very much like FansProject. The combiner part of the trailer does indeed form a base. For Menasor mode, Dragstrip and Dead End form the biceps and shoulders, with the forearms being separate parts stored in the trailer. Motormaster's legs kind of stretch to make Menasor's legs, and Breakdown and Wildrider attach to the shins. Without the cars, Menasor wouldn't have been most of his arms and his legs would be skeletal. That's entirely consistent with the IDW source material. As for XTB, and the reason some people are complaining, is that Motormaster seems to transform into Menasor by himself. His arms and legs look like they're just white blocks made from the trailer, and fully formed enough that the cars aren't necessary. From the renders it looks like Breakdown and Wildrider plug onto Menasor's calves, not his shins, which makes them even more superfluous. We're not exactly sure about Dragstrip and Dead End, but it kind of looks like they split in half, with half on Menasor's shoulders and half on his forearms. That's consistent with the cartoon, depending on the episode, but it's certainly not how the G1 toy was. It boils down to the old Hasui-style vs the current ultra cartoon accuracy MP trend. The problem at TFW2005 is that the "I like it because it's cartoon accurate" crowd is getting nasty with anyone that dares to have an opinion that doesn't feed their confirmation bias.

Considering we haven't seen anything but lineart for Hotspot, and considering how much stuff they've announced, manufactured, and released since then, I gave up on that one. It's vaporware.

And yet a hanful of people at TFW2005 will tell you it's the greatest thing ever, that you're not really a G1 fan if you don't love it too, and/or that you're a hypocrite for thinking it looks bad while liking something like MT's Starscream. I assume you meat GT, not Generations like Hasbro. In any case, I'm very much looking forward to this set. I've really liked just about everything GT/TFM has done so far, and based on how they've done their other combiners I think it's fair to assume the limbs will be at least MP carbot-sized, have fun but not overly complicated transformations (two things that one up Maketoys), look good in all three modes, and be fairly stable combined (two ways it ups TFC). As far as First Aid's alt mode goes, I don't mind it. I'd mind it if it was something like this, like a truck with a box on the back. That said, GT has a habit of using real-world vehicles, and First Aid looks an awful lot like this Mercedes Benz ambulance they actually use in Beijing. I'm ok with that. I'd probably like it a little more if he were the smaller MB ambulance or a Hi-Medic, but it could be worse and at least he'll look more visually distinct from Ratchet. As for colors... I'm definitely with you on the red they have on Blades being too dark, and I'm crossing my fingers and hoping for a Hot Spot that's closer to CW Hotspot than TFC Hydrant in colors. As far as Streetwise goes... I totally agree that G1 Streetwise is a light gray. GT goes for more IDW-ish, "updated" designs than straight G1, though. To help prepare yourself for inevitable disappointment, I can all but promise you that Streetwise will be white. For one, he was white in IDW. But for two, China's not like the US, where different city/township/county/state/etc police departments have different decos. More or less every police car in China, regardless of the city or the model of the car, looks the same: white with a police shield on the door and a blue swoosh running from behind the headlights down to the bottom of the (front) doors, starting thin and getting thicker as it gets lower on the vehicle. On the hood and the rear doors will be the name of the city; Beijing, Shanghai, etc. I don't think it'll even occur to GT that Streetwise is actually a light gray. It does look a lot better than that ACE one, doesn't it? I think I'll pick it up, too, but I'd be lying it I said I wasn't worried about XTB's reputation.

Hope you're looking forward to a review here. Mine should be arrive this week.

Maketoys was rather quiet, weren't they? They had Howling Meteor and Galaxy Meteor on display, and that's about it.

Satan looks too funky for me (and still looks like Cutthroat is an arm while Blot is a leg), so I think I'm going to stick with Ordin. I find myself surprisingly interested in Quietus myself, especially since I tend to shy away from FansToys. Maybe it's the IDW accessories... You didn't mention (because you're probably not interested in) Generation Toys' Defensor, which is official now. And MMC's making The Pet for their DJD. I'm not entirely sure how I feel about it, but GT also showed a prototype for an Optimus Primal design based on Transformers Doujinshi called "T-Beast," with the indication that they're also going to do Sideswipe and Hot Rod from the same book. The Primal looks cool... to be honest, they all look cool, but I've really been enjoying their IDW-inspired semi-MP stuff and was hoping they'd do more of that. Speaking of, it was nice to see progress on GT's Megatron which I want. Maketoys also had their prototype for Howling Meteor, which I want, but I guess they're both old news. As for XTB's Menasor... I kind of like what they're doing with the Stunticons, especially Motormaster. And if the limbs are still $40, I guess I'm in for at least the four cars. But that combined mode looks cartoon-accurate to the point of awful. I'm guessing Motormaster is going to be expensive because it looks like he transforms into Menasor, and the other four are like optional car decorations for his arms and calves.

People's budgets, I'd guess. At the price FT was originally charging for Spreem I know he was a little out of what I like to budget for one month. I suppose splitting it up would let you preorder and pre-pay half one month, then either preorder and wait to pay the other half or wait a month to preorder the other half.

I had Omega Supreme as a kid, and even then I thought he was dumb. Like, basically everything but his forearms are kind of stuck in one place in alt mode. Paying a small fortune to have a newer version so big that he needs his own bedroom is a hard no for me.

Couldn't sit through more than two minutes of his rambling, but wouldn't the obvious answer be exclusives? I do an overwhelming amount of my gaming on PC, but I've got myself a small library of PS4 games, all of which aren't available on PC or weren't when I got it.